I carry UDAP bear detterant spray--it has a range of 40 ft--this spray was developed by a guy mauled by a Grizzly in Glacier in the 90's--I think all bears should be treated with respectful-fearsomeness by humans--you are in their territory--I doubt wheather any of us will be attacked by a black bear in the park we like so much--BUT---if you feed a bear junk food or any food the bear gets for free and associates with you, then you are setting a trap for the camper or visitor,who may be alone,and follows the bear rules(these are the tough rules gained the hard way from people mauled by bears)(these are the rules broken in the past,which have nothing to do with you or your bear etiquette,which you want to keep distant from the bear,these are broken rules and behavior that are paid for by the innocent,bear attacks,bears that are canine not human.)If a bear circles you with it's ears up,and it is quiet,intense acting...then it is not acting...get your spray out and hope for the best...

The only comparison I can make is with gators...most of the ones I have seen in the wild dive and swim away when they see a boat...however, start feeding them, and they get as aggressive as cottonmouths. Sometimes, I wonder if we really are breeding progressively dumber people.

I think I'll check out that spray, particularly if I go camping with my kids.

Many people are not aware but a bear with a yearly cub killed a Cosby Area school teacher up above Elkmont while she and her ex husband were fishing. I personally had a yearling bear (very emaciated) -beeline down a hill toward me while I was fishing above Elkmont several years ago. After throwing several rocks in the river near him, it left before I found it necessary to spray it. My lunch, etc. was in my day pack up a tree more than a quarter mile away. One of the gals working at Tremont was jogging along the road above the institute and had a bear approach her and follow her for a ways. Every year, somebody has bear problems which NPS doesn't advertise. I fish the Beartooth Mt.-Shoshone Forest area Northeast of Cooke City,Mt. and Yellowstone. This area is full of Grizzly. My experience with the "Big Brown Furry's" there has been to see their backside as they run away. The NF campgrounds in the area have a Large Bear Box on each site which the campground hosts inform you you will use. Coolers, tooth paste, any thing connected with food or smell goes into it. Leaving a soft drink can or water bottle out on the table is frowned upon. I wish I could say the same for GSMNP campgrounds.

Reading between the lines, I felt that the NPS were concerned about people having spray and not knowing how to useit. It is a oil based mist that suspends in the air. I had my wife "practice" with removing the safety and shooting off a burst once. We went down to the stream a hundred yards away to fish, and had the mist blown back on us. The procedure is a quick spray to the bear's face then to assess the situation and wind direction before spraying again. You need to be very careful with it.
I can't agree more with the previous posts. It amazes me how some people get the "STUPIDS" in our parks.

" Remember the Government wouldn't allow any animals in the National Parks that would hurt us "

kytroutman--went to yellostone sept 2006,as i do most every year---on a bright weekday i ran over to the lamar valley and slough creek for abit of fishing---after crossing the yellostone river on the road leading into the lamay valley--i came upon a traffic jam--which usually means "wildlife"--got out and walked up to a circular group of folks shooting pics like crazy--in side the circle was a bear cub(brown)---a guy next to me had a digital camera,snapping pics as fast as he could--i said--You know mama is around here somewhere--don't think he appreciated it much--said these were just park bears they are used to humans--i said thats habituation--habituation has gotten many a person mauled--the guy said --you do your thing i'll do mine--i said okey-doughky and made a line back to my vehicle---a park ranger pulled up --saw what was going on and WENT OFF---those vacation,pic shooting,get close to nature,folks scattered--the cub exited to the right--started across the bottoms leading to the river---Did not see a mama bear--guess it was somewhere close because the cub was too healty looking----the park ranger has a pump action shotgum in hand---he lacked compassiun for the visitors--once traffic got moving he walked by my vehicle--i said that was close----he said your ****ed right that was close---these people will keep pulling stunts like this till someone gets hurt or worse then everyone will be so outraged and demand that something be done--so much for yellowstone vacations--

Do you think that a firework would be a good deterant for bears. I cant remember if it was on this board or not but someone said that if you heard noises outside of your tent while camping in the backcounty, to just lite a m-80 or similar firework and then boom.....no more noises. Does anyone think that carrying a few in your pocket and disposed of if need be that it would be an alternative to spray?

I would agree that if you set off a m-80 inside your tent that you won't hear any more noises, except for the ringing in your ears. Don't know if it would scare a bear away or not, but you won't be able to hear them if they stay around!

Our neighbor used a gasoline powered leaf blower to keep bears away from his bee hives all night last year. They wouldn't go far but when they came back he would fire it up again and they would leave. He fired a shotgun in the air for a while and that worked well but he switched to the blower so it wouldn't keep us up all night. The next day he moved his hives to Maryville. Eventually the bears were trapped and removed. They drove us crazy for a while. They were not afraid of people. When they are around I carry a 38 with me when I walk the dogs at night just to scare them off.

[quote]I would agree that if you set off a m-80 inside your tent that you won't hear any more noises, except for the ringing in your ears. *Don't know if it would scare a bear away or not, but you won't be able to hear them if they stay around! [/quot

lmao! yall are really funny. I think that I will sneak a couple m-80s in if I ever go camping in the backcountry